Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Is Atrazine lawsuit settlement good for farmers?” We posed this question after a lawsuit against Syngenta related to the herbicide was settled with an offer of over $100 million by the company, even thought there has been no evidence of harm in drinking water caused by the product and the plaintiffs in the lawsuit …
The CTIC Cheerleader
I think he’s the head cheerleader for the Conservation Technology Information Center. He’s board member Ron Olson, Mosaic Company, Eastern Region, Senior Agronomist. Ron is seen announcing door prize winners during our lunch at the 2012 Conservation in Action Tour. Ron told me that the actions and work that CTIC has exhibited over many years is what has kept them …
Farm Podcasting Tool
For you iPhone farm podcasters, here’s a new tool to check out. It’s the iRig MIC Cast which is the, “ultra-compact, portable voice recording microphone designed specifically for recording podcasts, interviews, lectures, voice memos, speeches and more. Features include: Features a stereo mini-jack headphone output enabling real-time monitoring of what is being recorded using headphones or speakers. Offers a mini-switch …
Delta F.A.R.M. – Farmers Practicing Conservation
One of the workhorses on the 2012 Conservation in Action Tour was Trey Cooke who is the Executive Director for Delta F.A.R.M. He says that water conservation and water quality is the main focus of the organization right now since it is so important to area farmers. Sediment has always been an issue since many of the non-point source pollutants …
AGROTAIN Efficiently Using a Limited Resource
Thanks to Koch Agronomic Services (AGROTAIN) I was able to attend the 2012 Conservation in Action Tour again this year. I visited with Greg Schwab, Director of Agronomy, during the Conservation Technology Expo which is held after lunch on the tour. Greg is in the photo at their booth in the expo. We talked about how farmers are proactively investing …
2012 Corn Tech Conference Underway
The 2012 Corn Utilization Technology Conference is underway, the ribbon has been cut. Cutting the ribbon are (l-r) Garry Niemeyer, President, National Corn Growers Association and Dr. Mike Ladisch, Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Purdue University and our keynote speaker this afternoon. Once again at this every other year conference I’ll be conducting interviews and posting them …
NRCS Chief Dave White on CTIC Tour
The Chief of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is Dave White. Dave was our lunch speaker during the 2012 Conservation in Action Tour. He also participated in the tour and talked about NRCS’ voluntary, incentive-based conservation work with private landowners. I recorded Dave’s remarks for you and also interviewed him at the end of our lunch. He said there are …
Farmers Need to Stand Up and Advocate
Hopefully you’re one of the thousands who have viewed the Farmers Fight – Stand Up video. I visited with the star of that video, Jasmine Dillon. Jasmine is a graduate student at Texas A&M University and part of the student led initiative called Farmers Fight. Jasmine says the initiative started when a group of students got tired of all the …
Regional and Local Conservation Alliances
Since Delta region farm runoff makes its way eventually to the Gulf of Mexico, the 2012 Conservation in Action Tour heard from Phil Bass, acting director of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. This is a partnership started in 2004 by the states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Phil says the Alliance has survived ten governor changes which shows …
Managing Field Drainage in the Delta Region
Rob Coker farms corn and soybeans in Yazoo County, Mississippi. He’s currently serving as the President of the Mississippi Corn Promotion Board and just completed his term as Chair of Delta F.A.R.M. He’s a progressive conservationist who is always looking for new technologies and practices. He shared some of what he’s learned with the 2012 Conservation in Action Tour. Land …